Such Hell
by Darkchilde
Summary: Pre-Higher Ground; What drove Ezra to drugs?


Disclaimer: Ezra and his parents aren't mine, but Lexie is. This is what I think what eventually drove Ezra to drugs, so bare with me. :) The song is by Dido, and is called "Isobel".   
  
Such Hell  
Chapter 1  
  
  
  
~~I hope you're well  
And what you've done is right  
Oh it's been such hell  
I wish you well  
I hope you're safe tonight  
  
  
A loud crash echoed through the house, followed by the tinkling of glass hitting the ground. A horrified scream followed the sounds of broken glass, followed by many loud words screamed in a shrill female voice that couldn't be made out from behind the closed door of the bedroom. Another loud crash followed the woman's muffled words, and this time it was a male voice screaming. This voice was louder and clearer, and could easily be made out through the door.   
  
"You FUCKING BITCH! That was my mother's antique vase! It was worth THOUSANDS!"   
  
"And now it's junk!" The woman's voice finally made itself heard through the door. "Just like my mirror!"   
  
"You didn't need that mirror anyway, you fucking hag!" The man's voice was getting louder and louder.   
  
"You PRICK!" Her voice lashed out like a whip.   
  
Ezra Friedkin buried his head in his arms, trying to block out the noise of his parents' bitter argument. He pressed his hands over his ears, trying not to hear the screamed words that somehow always reached his ears every time they began to scream at one another. His heart hurt in his chest, and he tried to force the pain away, curling into a tight ball in the corner of his room and closing his ears and his mind to the heated shouts echoing through his home.   
  
A scream of what could have been pain reached his tightly guarded ears, and Ezra gasped. God, please don't let them really hurt each other, the boy prayed silently, pulling away his hands and lacing them together. Please let this just be over soon...   
  
"That is IT! I want you GONE!" His mother's voice once more cut through the fog of misery Ezra had managed to pull around him.   
  
"This is my HOUSE! I PAID for it!" His father's snarled words were cold and harsh to his son's ears.   
  
"WE paid for it! And I want you GONE!"   
  
"NEVER!"   
  
"OUT!"   
  
And the screaming faded again, if only slightly, and Ezra buried his face against his knees. The harsh feel of his face pressed against his jeans hurt his cheeks. He covered his head with his hands, as though he was trying to stop the pieces of his world that were crumbling down around him from hitting him.   
  
Pain seared his heart and his mind, making his hands shake as he fought to control the urge to run, as far and as fast away from this place as he could. If he ran, he'd have no where to go, he knew. That's the only reason he stayed.   
  
The loud thump of feet slamming up the steps reached his ears, and Ezra's head shot up. His room was dark, so his parents would think he was asleep, he hoped. Please let them just go to bed, and forget all about this…   
  
However, the heavy footsteps didn't get further away. In fact, they were getting closer to his closed bedroom door. Ezra's heart began to slam against his chest, and he uncurled himself from his ball and scanned his room franticly, trying to find a place to hide.   
  
The closet, he decided. But before he could get there, his door was slung open, and his father stood framed there. Ezra winced, and stood perfectly still. His light was switched on, and the boy blinked in the sudden brightness, and looked away from his father.   
  
"Ezra, you're mother's gone INSANE!" Richard Friedkin roared at the boy, looking at his son but not seeing him. "I swear, I'm going to kill her if she keeps this up!"   
  
Ezra gasped, and took an involuntary step back. His father just clenched a fist, and slammed it into the doorframe of his son's bedroom. Swallowing hard, the curly haired boy watched his father, hoping that he would leave, and leave now.   
  
"I swear, Ezra if she doesn't get a grip..." Richard trailed off menacingly, his eyes spitting fury. His son swallowed hard, dropping his eyes from his father's furious gaze. He watched his father's legs instead, praying that they would turn and leave his room.   
  
For a long moment, Ezra was half-afraid that his father was going to say something else, but then the older man's legs turned and left the room, leaving Ezra with his thoughts. A swell of relief flooded up through his chest, and he moved to his bed and sank down face first into it. Maybe now he could get some rest…   
  
"DON'T YOU START WITH ME AGAIN RICHARD!" His mother's voice cut through his brain like a hot knife through butter. The beginnings of relief that the shouting was over for the night disappeared. Jumping to his feet, the young man turned and ran toward his window, ripping it open.   
  
A light burned in the window directly across from his. The relief that had just died screaming in his soul was reborn like the phoenix from the ashes. Closing his eyes, and swallowing hard, Ezra sat down on the windowsill, and slung one leg, and then the other out of it. His nimble feet grabbed a hold of the tree that was conveniently right next to his window. Quickly, he climbed the rest of the way out, and shimmied down the tree.   
  
As soon as his bare feet hit the cool grass, he was off and running across the twenty yards that separated the two houses. He slowed to a stop about thirteen from the window with the light on, and stooped to scoop up a few of the loose pebbles that always seemed to be sitting right under her window.   
  
Ezra stepped a few feet back, and tossed one at the window. The soft thump it made when it hit the wooden siding sounded very loud in the still night. Before he could throw another stone at the house, the lighted window was opened, and a dark head appeared.   
  
"Ezra?" A soft female voice asked.   
  
"Can I come up?" Ezra asked without preamble, choking back the tears that threatened in his eyes.   
  
"Yeah, hang on." Alexis Niles's voice floated back, and seconds later a rope ladder dropped down in front of him. Grabbing it, he hoisted himself up the side of the house, breathing a quite sigh of relief as he made it to the window. He pulled himself in side, and looked at the young woman standing in front of him, her dark eyes wide and worried.   
  
"Did it happen again?" She whispered, her voice breaking on the 'again'. Ezra nodded, the tears he'd been struggling with finally spilling down his cheeks.   
  
"Why is this happening, Lexie? Is it something I did?" He asked brokenly, his heart in his deep blue eyes. Lexie stepped forward, pulling her best friend against her and hugging him tightly.   
  
"I don't know why it's happening, Ez. But I know its not you're fault." Lexie stressed the last sentence, running her fingers through his dark brown hair.   
  
"How do you know, Lexie?" Ezra asked the girl, his voice devoid of hope.   
  
"I…I guess I don't. But I…don't THINK it's your fault. It's you parents fault." Lexie finished more confidently then she began.   
  
"I guess." Ezra agreed, tiredly. His voice was slightly muffled by her shoulder, and the girl clung to him tightly. She caught their reflection in the mirror, and blinked. Her smooth dark skin contrasted nicely with Ezra's pale flesh, and she was as tall as he was. Turning away from the mirror, the girl buried her face against her friend's shoulder and ignored everything else around her.   
  
Lexie and Ezra had been friends their entire lives. The earliest memory she had was of him, with his dark curls falling in his two year old face, reaching out to help her to her feet from where she had fallen. That one memory had set the standard for her life after that. Her entire life, she had gone to his with her problems, and giggled at the smart-alec advice that he loved to give. Unfortunately, now he had a real problem, and she didn't know how to help him with it. But she would be him for him, just like he always had been for there. That's what best friends were for, right?   
  
"Do you wanna stay here tonight?" The girl asked him softly, pulling back from the embrace. Ezra studied her face for a moment, then nodded, to tired and emotionally drained to say anything at all. Lexie smiled softly and hugged him quickly again.   
  
"Am I on the right again?" Ezra asked her, his voice soft but not quite as helpless as it had been when he gotten there.   
  
"Duh. You know I hate to sleep over there." Lexie wrinkled her nose, and giggled.   
  
"Of course." Ezra rolled his eyes, and threw back the covers of the bed and slid in. Lexie grinned as well, happy that her friend seemed to forget his problems for just a little bit. The girl reached over and killed the light, leaving the two of them alone in the dark.   
  
A few minutes passed, and then Ezra spoke again. "Lexie?"   
  
"Yeah?" She asked back quietly. He didn't say anything, and worry crept into her soul. "Ezra?" Again he was silent. She was just about to reach for the light, worried, when his voice stopped her.   
  
"Ever feel like Dawson and Joey on Dawson's Creek?"   
  
Lexie snorted and then dissolved into giggles, and Ezra's deeper laugh was music to her ears. Maybe he would be all right now.   
  
~~It's been a long day coming  
and long will it last  
when it's last day leaving  
and i'm helping it pass  
by loving you more  
  
  



End file.
